The present invention relates to a surgical retractor apparatus, and more particularly, to a clamping device that supports a retractor apparatus over an operating table.
It is customary during major surgery, particularly on the chest or abdomen, to employ retractors. The retractors are applied to the edges of a surgical incision and pull back the incision thereby exposing an area within the body in which the surgeon must work. The retractor is held in place, typically, by being attached to a retractor support apparatus that is positioned over the operating table. The retractor support apparatus is usually attached to side rails located along the sides of the operating table by some type of clamping device.
In the past, many of the clamping devices on the side rails of the operating table had to be positioned in a precise location. The retractor support apparatus was then secured to the clamping device by various mechanisms to hold the retractor support apparatus in place over the operating table. Since the side rails of the operating table are not sterile, a surgical drape was placed over the side rail by either cutting slits into the surgical drape and extending a support to the retractor apparatus through the slits or simply readjusting the drape around the support and over the clamp and the side rail.
Some of the short comings of the above-mentioned clamping devices are that they do not allow the placement of the retractor apparatus to be varied easily in the horizontal direction along the length of the bed unless slits are made in the surgical drape. However, introducing slits into the surgical drape, to allow the supports of the retractor apparatus to engage the clamping device presents a possible danger of contamination from the unsterile surfaces of the clamping device and the side rail through the slit. In addition, vertical adjustment to the retractor apparatus is difficult since often times the clamping device is beneath the drape.
Simply readjusting the surgical tape around the support member also presents a contamination problem. If the surgical drape is moved or shifts during the operation, the unsterile clamping device and part of the side rail may be exposed.
The following patents assigned to the assignee of the present application illustrate various known clamping devices which are used to support surgical retractors on the side rails of operating tables: LeVahn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,772; LeVahn U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,195; LeVahn U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,631; LeVahn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,707; LeVahn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,916; LeVahn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,151; LeVahn U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,932; Gorham U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,240, and Christian U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,338.